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Accountable Care Organizations (ACO’s) and A Revisit To “Managed Care”

Posted Feb 22 2011 2:38pm

Posted on | February 22, 2011 |

Health Policy expert John Iglehart recently wrote, “One of the few major provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with solid bipartisan support establishes a new delivery model: the accountable care organization (ACO). Congress directed the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to develop an ACO program to improve the quality of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries and reduce its costs while retaining fee-for-service payment. Under this program, medical groups would have to take responsibility for achieving these goals and would share in any savings derived by Medicare.” (1)

Elliott Fisher, who has been credited with creating the label ACO, is uncertain about their future. He says, “Whether ACOs achieve their ambitious promise remains far from certain. (Continue…)